Armed with a little more knowledge, Richard and I started a new campaign. I am the Roman player and Richard the barbarian.
This is the situation after the third turn. The initial civil war finished, although a usurper then took control of Britannia for an early Brexit option. Barbarian raids have been more prominent and take a while to clear up the damage that they do, which is critical to do so as to maintain provincial control and scrape up those all important VPs for the Romans.
The Game's developer has been very helpful in responding to rules queries vis the Boardgame Geek forum: https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/296666/barbarians-gates-decline-and-fall-western-roman-em
Richard has provided this excellent and detailed commentary:
Barbarians at the Gates 337-476 Scenario
The Successor Strife turns A and B
Beginning with the death of Constantine the Great, these turns represent the struggle between his sons. It was Constantine II vs Constans II. Loyalists vs Usurpers or should that be Usurpers vs Loyalists?
Following play of Usurper Emperor on the Loyalist Leader Magnentius in Britannia (a precursor to R(oman)-exit) by the Barbarian player as the first card of the first turn, the Loyalist player promptly decided that the Usurpers were a better bet and immediately switched sides. Possibly one of the most unique elements of this game, is the ability for the Roman player to swap sides at a point of his choosing in the event of a civil war occurring and going badly for him. The Usurper Romans are controlled by the Barbarian player.
Both players largely spurning Barbarian action during these first pre-turns, concentrated on regaining their rightful Imperial title.
The Roman player was soon rueing the decision to swap sides, as the previous Loyalists (now Usurpers) exploited their Gallia Belgica stronghold to gather in the the border garrisons with the play of the "Emptying the Border Forts" card. With a now sizable 10 factor army (the largest that can be moved by a single leader) encompassing the original Loyalist , Constantine II ran amok in the province of Gallia Lugdenensis and Italia Annonaria defeating and scaring away Loyalist forces who refused battle. The Loyalists lost control of both provinces for turn A
and this cost them Victory points in the scoring phase.
Thanks to the retreat of the Loyalist forces away from the border and the stripping of the garrisons by the Usurper, raiding opportunities presented themselves to the Barbarian player. Despite the ease of crossing the border, a number of raiders were stopped in their tracks and destroyed whilst attempting to plunder walled cities in both Gallia
Belgica at Augusta Treverorum and Caesarea in Africa. Despite these setbacks, a particularly successful raid from Germania penetrated all the way to Hispania. These first turns saw these limited, but highly effective raids from the Barbarians, generating enough plunder to knock the Roman VP tally down a point, as well as weakening Loyalist Gallia Viennensis to the point that the Loyalists also lost control of this province.
The Loyalists under Constans II after successfully avoiding battle and reinforcing, finally engaged the Usurper Constantine II at Mediolanum. The Loyalists played the "Traitor's Head" battle card which gave a crucial +2 DRM to the combat dice. Just enough to win the battle. Lucky for the Loyalists as a defeat would have seen the Barbarian player immediately play "The Road to the Throne Card" which would have seen that leader displaced and cost a Loyalist VP, but is was not to be and suffering a heavy defeat, Constantine II withdrew behind the walls of
Mediolanum in an attempt to hold off Constans II. A siege attempt was immediately made by the Loyalist and the rebellion was crushed. The empire was reunited (for now) under Loyalist control.
Turn 1
The first appearance of Barbarian invaders in the form of Gunderic and his Vandals was thwarted by the Loyalist through the play of "Delay at the critical moment" card which saw Gunderic stalled after crossing the Rhine and just short of investing Augusta Treverorum in Gallia Belgica. The remainder of turn 1 saw a switch in direction from the Vandals with a limited incursion into the border areas of Italia Annonaria and the elimination of a border garrison and castra fortified area. A further Barbarian Tribe, in the form of the Jutes made an appearance on the Skagerrak. The Loyalist took the opportunity afforded by the restoration of peace within the empire to start to rebuild the frontier defences by moving substantial forces up to the border regions in Gallia Belgica as well as constructing castra to slow down the raiding opportunities.
Play continues in a turn so long as there are unplayed cards in hand. The Loyalist player burned through his hand rather quickly, resulting in the Barbarian player have the last play of the turn, normally the Loyalist has the last turn in card for card play. Not taking "no" for an answer, the "Usurper Emperor" card was again played against Magnentius in Britannia, switching control of that province and its substantial garrison away from the Loyalists at the last gasp. Although not quite a R-Exit in the form of "Eagles leave Britannia" which can be played in later turns, it is more than enough to cause the Loyalists big problems in the turns ahead.
With the end of card play, the attrition phase was next, followed by the Barbarian tribe mandatory migration. The Vandals began moving toward Italia Annonaria whilst, in a twist created by the card play, the Jutes, who are able to migrate by sea, found themselves not limited to migrating to Britannae as they normally are, as a result of no loyalist
controlled ports there due to the Usurpation of Magnentius, they were instead moved to Burdigala on the Atlantic coast of Gallia Viennensis near the border with Hispanae. Whilst a weak tribe, this is another problem for the Loyalists as further raiding opportunities from behind the Rhine frontier now present themselves to the Barbarian player, together with the still relatively porous Rhine frontier.
Turns A and B are pre-turns. At the end of Turn 1 of 9, the Roman VPs stand at 9 down from an original 12. They lose if the VPs ever go to zero and gain and lose VPs for control of provinces, whilst the Barbarian player reduces Roman VPs through successful plundering via raiding and occupying cultivated spaces in Roman provinces.
There is a long way to go, but it does get much, much harder for the Romans.
New strategies will be needed if the Romans are indeed to keep the Barbarians at the Gates!
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